In My Dreams, You Linger
by moedeity
Summary: It's tough. It's tough when you watch someone disappear in front of you and all you can do is pull a brave face. It's difficult when you're in the life of a shinobi. But what makes things even harder is the fact that… "You died, not knowing you were loved."


**A/N: **The first time I heard that Neji died, I actually had tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe that he died in the Mangga and I doubt [but I'm still hoping, though there's a slim chance.] that he will survive. When the series, 'Naruto' started, I have to admit that I actually hated Neji because he was such an arrogant brat. But as the series continued, I learned to admire the boy. I became a NejixTen fan because there's an undeniable chemistry between them. But now that Neji's gone, I just don't know what'll happen. Heaven knows I cursed Kishi out for doing what he did. But hey, there's really nothing we can do now except continue on writing about Neji through our fanfictions and immortalize him as though the mangga doesn't matter.

This is a one shot fict that I knew I had to do. Dedicated to all you NejixTen fans out there. Let's keep the love between them alive. Let's keep Neji in our memory.

_I do not own Naruto, sadly. _

**R&R **please!

* * *

It was clear sky. It was a bright day. She sat there, on a lonely swing in the middle of nowhere with golden sand by her feet. Ten-Ten knew that this place was a dream and if given, she would stay here and not wake up. The life of a shinobi. When she was younger, all she wanted was to be known as an equal. An equal to the others. To the guys of different teams, of different clans, of different villages. To Lee. To Neji.

She took her time to look around her with her usual bun undone and brown hair falling to her back like a gentle curtain. This dessert_ was _a dream. If it weren't, wouldn't she be burning by the heat? All she could feel was loneliness and despair in this ethereal place that shimmered in gold as the sun above shone brightly. It was only miles and miles of golden sand that moved slowly like waves of water defying gravity. If she shed tears here, would it float up or would it fall to the sand below? The chains of the swing in her grasp chimed as she tightened her hold upon it. If she cried here… No one will ever know.

One sob was all it would take to make the tears flow down her cheeks like a heavy melancholic waterfall, but she kept it in. If Neji could see, would he approve of it? Of course he wouldn't. He would say, _'Tears are for young girls, Ten-Ten. Don't waste them on me.'_ and she would hold it in even if her chest throbbed, even if her heart ached.

She pushed her naked feet onto the sand, digging her toes beneath it to push herself to a tiny swing of this lonely swing set that fell from the heavens of her unconscious realm. But why… Even in her sleep, she could still feel the emptiness and pain like someone had drilled a hole in her heart and left her to bleed.

In her effort to stop herself from crying, Ten-Ten felt as though her chest was being squeezed and she gasped trying to catch air. Hyperventilating from the pain, she started breathing heavily. _'Just breathe, Ten-Ten. Just breathe.' _Neji's voice echoed in her mind, _'It's only temporary. The pain will go away eventually. Don't let your enemies see you in your weakest.'_ and his encouraging smile broke out in her memory.

"What was that again? T-That saying everyone keeps repeating? Easier said than done, right?" she told herself as she shut her eyes tightly to stop any tears from leaking through. The pink from her cheeks and nose begun to rise and her lips contorted into a fine line. "Neji, you bastard." she heard herself say. The swing begun to pick up momentum. Her hair flowed in the wind that breezed by. Her hold its chains tightened even more. "I hate you." she told herself, imagining that he was there from behind her, swinging her to ease the pain that was embedded deep into her heart.

"Now that you're gone, what am I going to do?"

The swing continued to move by itself.

"You were a genius. Nothing could have killed you. You should have fought on. You should have stayed alive."

She could feel herself rise from the sand, going to and fro in a comforting motion. For a minute she thought she could fly. If she leapt out of the swing, could she really fly away? This was a dream, wasn't it? Anything was possible here, right? Nothing could hurt her if she fell. Nothing could harm her.

The swing went on. She could feel the pressure on her back like gentle palms, pushing Ten-Ten into the air and back again.

"If I fall, I won't get hurt. If I fall… Nothing can hurt me." and as she rose higher off the sand from below, she jumped. Eyes closed, she opened her arms as though to fly. The cold embrace of the wind picked her up just for a split second.

And then… She started to fall.

_If I fall, nothing will hurt me._

It would only be a few minutes now before the sand would catch her. Be it a hard fall, she didn't care. She was already hurting, so it didn't really matter to her.

Gentle arms, embraced her as she gradually descended to the sand and ever so slowly did a hand press her face to the crane of a neck: Ten-Ten fell onto a body, weakened by the strangers embrace. Limp. Lifeless. Was this the feeling of hopelessness claiming her?

"Shh…" a compassionate voice whispered in her ear. "Shh…" it repeated as she felt the arms tighten around her, cradling Ten-Ten in a slow dance here in the sand. "Ten-Ten." the voice was calm. The voice of a familiar man called her name in a tender tone.

"I'm here. You're not alone." he told her as a hand had stroked her hair slowly.

Ten-Ten opened her eyes weakly and her shaky voice started to wiggle its way out of her lips.

"Neji..?" she asked. There was a silence. She could hear a gentle wind blow by and a humming, as though a tender lullaby telling her to go to sleep.

"Yes..?" she heard him reply through his humming.

Her heart leapt violently. "Neji." she repeated, slowly wrapping her arms around him in an embrace. Her face dug onto his shoulder as she started to shiver from holding the tears in. And just as she thought she could fight it off, she could feel the tears leak through her lids no matter how hard she had shut it.

No matter how eager a soul was – it was still fragile.

She was still a woman.

She was still human.

Breaking out a sob, she crumpled her fists onto the material of his garments; grabbing a handful of the white under her shaky fingers. The tears continued to flow. "Neji…" she called him again, though voice now muffled from the tears she repeated his name. She felt him move, pulling her face away from his shoulder. Now she had shamed herself in front of him. Ten-Ten kept her eyes closed thinking that if she couldn't see him – he wouldn't see her, his hand had cupped her chin to tilt it up.

"Open your eyes." his words were inviting. Gentle, like the wind whispering into her ear.

Ten-Ten shook her head.

"Please..?" he asked her again, pleading that she followed his command. Like he did, when he was still living. She sniffed and slowly opened her eyes to look up at him. The sun from behind him made him look like a shadow, but as she blinked her stubborn tears away, she could see his handsome features looking down at her with a soft smile. "Hello." he greeted her as though he was a stranger to her.

Through her tears and sobbing, Ten-Ten laughed. It was a sad tone, but her laughter had made his features soften even more. His hand reached to her face, wiping away the tears that stained her cheeks.

"There. That's better." Neji stroked her cheeks with his thumb and continued on the other side of her face with the back of his fingers. "Tears don't suit you much, Ten-Ten." he reminded her. Her face fell slowly from a smile to a pained expression and she lunged at him to hold him to her. She cried hard. Harder than she did before.

_Oh how she missed him._

_Just his company._

_His voice._

She feared that she would forget it in time, but she didn't want to. Would she still dream of him in the future? Would she remember the tiniest detail that made him, Neji? All she could do was hang on to him. Here and now, while she still had the chance to do so. Neji allowed her to keep him where he was and arms so strong held her close in a gentle manner as a father would to a child or a man would to his tormented lover.

"I-I miss you. I miss y-you, so much." she struggled with her words in between sobbing as she held onto him like life itself. She gritted her teeth, trying to stop it from chattering in a longing. She held him close to stop herself from shaking. But Neji knew that she was aching and he knew she needed him; so he didn't fight or off but instead he basked in her embrace no matter how greedy it might seem to others.

"Why?" she heard him ask.

"You left. You left." she found herself repeating it over and over until her voice had died.

"Ten-Ten," he whispered to her before gently pulling her away to place gentle kisses upon her puffy, reddened cheeks. "I never left you…" he told her as he held her face in his hands, palms that once were so rough from training now softer than silk. She leaned her cheeks against them, biting on her lower lip to stop them from shaking. The tears seemed to be endless in this dream. "I'm here with you, always." he added, that smile on his face never fading as he leaned in to give her a soft and gentle kiss upon her lips slightly stained from the tears that fell from her eyes.

It lingered.

Maybe longer than she had expected.

But she didn't complain and she didn't fight it. It was as though he was telling her he loved her through that single solitary kiss they shared in her sleep, without words coming through; a kiss that declared his love for her. Gentle. Soft. Everlasting.

He pulled away a few inches, "I will be with you, always." he told her. His warm breath on her soft pair.

_"Always."_

She opened her eyes slowly to find the pillow damp and eyes still stained in tears. Her fingers curled into a fist around her blanket. The day had broken through her open window, the curtains flowing gently as the breeze blew by. There, under her window stood the photograph of Neji with burned out candles and incense she had lit many nights since his departure. The face of the man she had adored for years was welcomed in her dreams for as long as she lived, for as long as destiny would grant it. She lay there in her half awake, half asleep state; eyes glazed over from dreaming and crying. She stared at the photograph as he stared back at her, forever immortalized in a moment. Her grip on the blanket loosened and her face held a bitter, saddened smile until she finally spoken in a whisper of her own to the man in the frame.

"Always…"


End file.
